Parvetaja
Level 1 (15 points)

Q: Macbook Air Logic Board Failure

So here's my story: I bought a few months used Macbook Air Mid-2013 11" (A1465) last spring. It was big money for me, but I was hoping that atleast it would be a reliable tool for many years (basing on the Apple reliability reputation). Going almost a year without issues, last week happened this. I was studying late, and when I went to bed, the battery was almost empty (~5%). I just put it to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, the Macbook had ran out of power, and when I tried to charge it, it didn't do anything. I googled it, and tried many things, like SMC reset and warming the charger. I even tried a different charger, but nothing.

So I took the Air to a authorised Apple reseller (Valge Klaar) in Estonia for diagnostics. And yesterday I got a text from them that the logic board is dead, and the replacement would cost 480€ (570$). I mean, how is this even possible that a mother board just randombly dies? Especially on a great reputation company device...

I was stunned by these news. So here I am now, and because I can only dream about paying that sort of money right now (or in the near future), helpless and hoping for some kind of help from you guys. The laptop is over a year old, so the guarantee is over by a month or two. Should I just sell it for replacement parts? I must admit I am quite disappointed in Apple

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 2013 11"

Posted on Jan 11, 2015 4:36 AM

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Parvetaja

Q: Macbook Air Logic Board Failure

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  • by spudnuty,

    spudnuty spudnuty Jan 11, 2015 5:52 AM in response to Parvetaja
    Level 5 (7,097 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 11, 2015 5:52 AM in response to Parvetaja

    Do you have the MBA in your hands?

    First try

    Reset SMC

    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

    If that doesn't work try disconnecting the battery and the power adapter. Push the power button. Wait 10 seconds. Reconnect power adapter and try a restart.

    If that doesn't work unplug the adapter.  Push the power button. Wait 10 seconds. Reconnect the battery and adapter and try to restart.

    https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Mid+2013+Battery+Replacement/15 205

    You'll need special tools to remove the bottom Did that repair place do that?

  • by Parvetaja,

    Parvetaja Parvetaja Jan 11, 2015 7:39 AM in response to spudnuty
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Jan 11, 2015 7:39 AM in response to spudnuty

    Firstly, thank you for answering!

    Secondly, I'll get the MBA back tomorrow. As said I tried the SMC reset and also the latter. I didn't notice no any hints of life...

    A similar thing happened 3-4 months ago too. The thing was exactly the same: the battery ran out during the night and the charging didn't function(no light too) at all. But the next day the MBA randomly just started charging.

  • by actressvan,Helpful

    actressvan actressvan Jan 19, 2015 7:16 PM in response to Parvetaja
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 19, 2015 7:16 PM in response to Parvetaja

    Like your story, I just found out today that my Macbook Air, that was purchased a year and a half ago, has a failed logic board and I will be charged $750 to replace it! Doing some serious research online, I've noticed that many people are having this problem.  Apple needs to do a recall.

  • by spudnuty,

    spudnuty spudnuty Jan 19, 2015 9:27 PM in response to Parvetaja
    Level 5 (7,097 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 19, 2015 9:27 PM in response to Parvetaja

    Hmm so I would say don't ever let it run down completely so that it dies in the middle of the night. SMC resets that are done only from the keyboard seem to be a compromise and a "hard SMC reset" requires disconnecting the adapter and battery, pushing the power button and waiting 5 minutes before attempting restart.

    It seems like the SMC hangs when it runs down all the way.

  • by spudnuty,

    spudnuty spudnuty Jan 19, 2015 9:28 PM in response to actressvan
    Level 5 (7,097 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 19, 2015 9:28 PM in response to actressvan

    They should do a "Depot Repair" that would be a flat $300. If that is available where you are. Surely in most of the US.

  • by Anantpal,

    Anantpal Anantpal Jul 29, 2015 12:25 PM in response to Parvetaja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 29, 2015 12:25 PM in response to Parvetaja

    Wow! The exact same thing happened with me.
    My MBA went out of juice and then just won't start when charger was plugged in.
    At first I thought it was the charger but the service guy told me the  motherboard had issues.
    I am going crazy thinking of 40,000Rs worth of repair.

     

    Anybody with suggestions on how to deal with this the easy way? TIA

  • by ReDevil7,

    ReDevil7 ReDevil7 Jul 31, 2015 5:56 AM in response to Parvetaja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 31, 2015 5:56 AM in response to Parvetaja

    I have the exact same problem with my 2013 MBA- defective MLB which needs to be replaced

    They are charging me INR 40k = $700 why would anyone pay that crazy amount? makes more sense to buy a new laptop !

    Extremely disappointed in Apple

  • by rolfmagener,

    rolfmagener rolfmagener Aug 19, 2015 6:34 PM in response to Parvetaja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 6:34 PM in response to Parvetaja

    One more for the club! Thankfully I have Apple Care and they just put in a new logic board.

    But it happened to me 2 x before, both times they told me that it was just a software issue!

  • by JJ jiju,

    JJ jiju JJ jiju Sep 11, 2015 10:56 PM in response to rolfmagener
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 11, 2015 10:56 PM in response to rolfmagener

    Same thing happened to me.  Mine was MBA early 2014 13" i5,256gb.

    I trusted apple. feel like after Jobs took off Quality of apple has gone far down.

    dono how many more had/have the same problem.

  • by victorfromcaguas,

    victorfromcaguas victorfromcaguas Sep 14, 2015 9:49 AM in response to Parvetaja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 14, 2015 9:49 AM in response to Parvetaja

    Another one with the same issue...

     

    I purchased last May of 2014 a 13in MacBook Air 1.4GHz i5 8Gb RAM through my company's Employee Purchase Program for my daughter's graduation. It worked flawlessly until last week. On Sunday night she was using it, closed the lid before going to bed, and next day the MBA doesn't turn on. I did some research online, but none of the troubleshooting steps did anything. I took it to a local authorized repair shop, to essentially tell me it is cheaper to buy a new one than to repair the old one. Apparently the issue is a bad logic board. I called another shop looking for alternatives, and it seems that the logic board is no longer available, and that either I "downgrade" to a 1.3GHz board, or go with the 1.7GHz replacement. The downgrade will save me $20. And the repair will still be more than what the laptop cost me originally.

     

    My daughter needs a laptop to school as it is required for her classes, so I ended up buying a Windows 10 laptop for less than half of the repair cost of the MBA. I simply cannot afford to repair the MBA. And I guess her classmates will now be happy to know they all use Windows laptops. I also trusted Apple products to last at least more than 1 year.

  • by JJ jiju,

    JJ jiju JJ jiju Sep 14, 2015 10:15 PM in response to victorfromcaguas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 14, 2015 10:15 PM in response to victorfromcaguas

    WE should do somethin. There might be more people having same issue after one or two month of warranty expire. Apple is ripping peopl.

  • by tibinthomas,

    tibinthomas tibinthomas Sep 15, 2015 8:33 PM in response to JJ jiju
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Sep 15, 2015 8:33 PM in response to JJ jiju

    What to do ? Any plan? Should we move legally.

  • by sutanutapol,

    sutanutapol sutanutapol Sep 16, 2015 9:08 AM in response to Parvetaja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2015 9:08 AM in response to Parvetaja

    I am having the same problem today. But in my case i properly shut down my MBA and kept it. Today morning while trying to power it up it just wont come on. I have tried Smc reset and all basic checks. Called the service centre and they asked me to bring the mac and deposit to them with 2400Rs. They would check and get back after 4-5 days with cause of problem and repair cost. Going by this thread seems I will also be given the logic board replacment option and shelling out so much is an impossibility. Can we not together move and ask apple to take a look into this. Seems a bad batch was manufactured and shipped to India. This deserves serious attention. So many of us being robbed with issues creeping up just past warranty. My device was bought in april 15 2014.

  • by MrScanlon,Helpful

    MrScanlon MrScanlon Sep 16, 2015 1:44 PM in response to sutanutapol
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 16, 2015 1:44 PM in response to sutanutapol

    Good evening,

     

    Another MacBook Air Logic Board - Failure, Can we how do we press for apple to do a recall or repair.

     

    MacBook Air (13-inch,Mid 2013)


    Unhappy customer!


    @apple

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